Foreign meddling in electoral politics can legitimately be compared to an act of war. Just ask the voters of Honduras whose popular president was forced out of office at gunpoint by agents working for the interests of offshore corporations.

Since the replacement of Mel Zelaya in 2009 the coupsters, anointed by the good offices of El Norte, have run roughshod over the rights and dignity of the people, putting in place by hook, crook, bullets and batons an old-fashioned fascist regime; a banana republic the likes of which has not been seen since the last time Uncle Sam ran the show.

Jesse Freeston is a Canadian documentary filmmaker and video journalist. A seminal member of the Real News Network, he’s also produced documentaries for teleSUR, the world’s largest Spanish-language public broadcaster, and his latest film, Resistencia: The Fight for the Aguan Valley documents an agrarian take-over of palm oil plantations by share-cropping farmers. He's currently working on his next independent film, Human Park.

And; media-shaded the last few years by neigbouring regional conflicts, and more recently by the Olympics and spotlight hogging Trump political circus, Gaza, and Palestine generally, has garnered scant coverage in North America's press. That changed a little with Israel's aerial and tank bombardment of the embattled enclave last week; but that attention would hover a little longer there to reveal the desperate, ongoing plight of the World's largest and longest refugee crisis.

Dr. Ramzy Baroud is an American-Arab journalist, media consultant, syndicated columnist, educator, past editor of numerous online and print news organizations, and author. He's currently embarking on a World-tour to promote his latest book, 'The Last Earth: A Palestinian Story' to provide, he says, "a new take on the history of the Palestinian people, one in which the refugees are the core theme".

That tour will bring Ramzy to our town next week, 7pm Friday March 2nd, right here at UVic's David Strong building.

Ramzy Baroud and bringing the voice to Palestine's refugees in the second half.

And; Victoria-based activist and CFUV broadcaster at-large, Janine Bandcroft will be here with the Left Coast Events bulletin to bring us up to speed with some of what's good going on in and around Victoria in the coming week.

But first, Jesse Freeston and the story of Honduras' never-ending coup.

Dear Premier Rachel Notley; I am writing you this open letter to defend myself against your attack on me personally and professionally.

What is the evidentiary basis behind your characterization of my academic work as “repulsive, offensive and not reflective of Alberta”?

Why have you decided to set yourself up, Premier Notley, as some sort of arbitrator of what scholarly work in Alberta universities meets the criteria of being “reflective of Alberta”?

Is your opinion about what is or is not reflective of Alberta to become a new test of how curriculum will be created and how faculty members will be chosen in this province?

What lies behind your decision to disseminate a caricature of me “standing at the head of the class” in order to “spread lies and conspiracy theories”? [1]

Since I began teaching in the Department of Native American Studies at the University of Lethbridge in 1990, I have never once seen in a student evaluation that reflects the kind of accusations you are pressing publicly on me. How is it you think you know more about me, including and what goes on in my classroom, than my own students?

Moscow - The three types of power which decide the fate of regimes are force, fraud and subversion; that’s to say, arms, money, media.

The Roman Empire was good at using small armies to take on much bigger ones; by adeptly concentrating their force they managed to rule much larger large territories than the legions could cover.

The Byzantine Empire excelled at using bribery of locals to stay loyal; the pre-requisite for that was the intelligence to identify who to pay, how much, and how often. The British Empire used subversion to divide and rule most of their colonial targets, but if the British were matched for firepower and intelligence, they failed and were defeated – by the American colonists, the Maoris, the Boers, the Germans, the Japanese.

The American Empire excels at subversion on the home front. But abroad it usually combines fraud with subversion. When these two fail to preserve or topple regimes, US-made wars have been a consistent failure. The Russians are better than Americans at force and fraud. Schemes of subversion like the US plots to promote Boris Yeltsin, Anatoly Chubais, Mikhail Khodorkovsky, and Alexei Navalny to rule the Kremlin, are not winners with Russians; they are judged successful only by foreigners who read the Washington Post and London Times.

The “judge” who dismissed Assange’s case yesterday was “Lady Arbuthnot of Edrom”, wife to Tory peer, former Tory junior Defence Minister and government whip Lord James Arbuthnot. Not to mention Chairman of the Conservative Friends of Israel.

Arbuthnot was naturally Eton educated, the son of Major Sir John Sinclair Wemyss Arbuthnot. Of course Lady Arbuthnot’s children were all sent to Eton too.

At the first hearing, I was stunned by reports of completely inappropriate comments by Lady Arbuthnot, including responding to representations about Assange’s health by the comment that medical care is available in Wandsworth prison.

As the official charade is that Assange is wanted for nothing but jumping bail, for which a custodial sentence is rare, that callous attempt at gallows humour was redolent of Arbuthnot’s Tory mindset.

The numbers are staggering: last year, more than 4,000 Canadians suffered premature and completely preventable deaths, and more are dying this year and will continue to do so largely because Canada's political representatives lack the courage and vision to change a system that literally gives up for dead citizens it regards as lost causes.

Next week, February 20th, in Victoria and across the country, the National Day of Action on the Overdose Crisis will take to the streets yet again in efforts to bring the Justice system to its senses and reform finally the nation's drugs policies.

Garth Mullins is a long-time Vancouver-based DTES activist, writer, broadcaster, musician, trade unionist contributor to CBC Radio One's Ideas program, and his weekly column past appeared at 24 Hours Vancouver. He’s also been at the fore, with the Vancouver Area Network of Drug Users, responding to that city’s ongoing overdose crisis.

Garth Mullins in the first half.

And; while Washington debates whether Donald Trump believes Haiti to be either "shithole" or "shithouse" uncontested is the under-reported fact, "peacekeepers" from the euphemistically known "United" Nations used at least one of Haiti's rivers as an open sewer, initiating the cholera epidemic that august body is yet to take full responsibility for. Thus is the fate it seems for long-suffering Haiti, despoiled and denigrated by its powerful neighbours, and through their intervention "humanitarian" and otherwise kept the poorest of the Western Hemisphere's countries.

Mark Schuller is Associate Professor of Anthropology and NGO Leadership and Development at Northern Illinois University and affiliate at the Faculté d’Ethnologie, l’Université d’État d’Haïti. He is the author or co-editor of six books, including the forthcoming 'Humanitarian Aftershocks in Haiti'. Schuller is also co-director/co-producer of the documentary Poto Mitan: Haitian Women, Pillars of the Global Economy (2009), and he's active in several solidarity efforts. His recent CounterPunch article asks, 'What Is a Shithole Country and Why is Trump So Obsessed with Haiti?'

Mark Schuller and anatomy of a shithole in the second half.

And; Victoria-based activist and CFUV Radio broadcaster at-large, Janine Bandcroft will join us at the bottom of the hour with the Left Coast Events bulletin of good things you can get up to around here in the coming week. But first, Garth Mullins and wearing the red for the reform of Canada's drugs policies.

On January 22, BBC News at Ten carried a piece by 'defence' correspondent Jonathan Beale reporting a speech by General Sir Nick Carter, the British Army's Chief of General Staff.

Carter gave his speech, pleading for more resources in the face of the Russian 'threat', at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI), an establishment thinktank with close links to the military and corporate media.

Beale began his BBC News piece with a prologue of raw propaganda, delivered in an urgent and impassioned tone:

'Russia's building an increasingly modern and aggressive military. Already tested in battle in Syria, using weapons Britain would struggle to match – like long-range missiles. In Ukraine, they've been using unconventional warfare, electronic cyber and misinformation. And they're even on manoeuvres on Europe's doorstep, with large-scale exercises near Nato's borders. Enough to worry the head of the British army who tonight gave this rare public warning.'

The downing of a Russian warplane over Syria is further proof, if any were still needed, that news of the end of the protracted war there is premature. It also underscores the changing nature of the conflict, and its turn in a dangerous new direction.

It's been confirmed, Major Roman Filipov's Su-25 fighter was brought down by a MANPAD, or portable anti-aircraft missile system, reportedly fired by members of Jabhat al-Nusra. It's a sophisticated piece of equipment not easily gotten, so just where it came from, and how al-Nusra ended up with it are the burning questions of the moment.

John Helmer is a long-time, Moscow-based journalist, author, and essayist whose website, Dances with Bears is the only Russian-based news bureau “independent of single national or commercial ties.” He’s also a former political science professor who's served as an advisor to governments on three continents, and regularly lectures on Russian topics. Helmer’s book titles include: ‘Uncovering Russia,’ ‘Urbanman: The Psychology of Urban Survival,’ ‘Bringing the War Home: The American Soldier in Vietnam and After,’ and ‘Drugs and Minority Oppression’, among others.

John Helmer in the first half.

And; the Victoria Film Festival continues this week through Sunday, when it will feature Canadian director, Stephen Campanelli's 'Indian Horse'. The full-length feature recently took the Calgary Film Festival's Audience Award for Narrative Feature, and was named the People's Choice winner at last year's Vancouver International Film Festival. It's an adaptation of the Richard Wagamese's widely acclaimed novel about Ojibway boy, Saul Indian Horse's abduction into Canada's residential school system.

Campanelli is a long-time Hollywood camera operator, working within legendary actor/director and producer, Clint Eastwood's rarefied filmmaking circle. Among others, he's collaborated with Eastwood on the films: 'Million Dollar Baby'. 'Gran Torino', 'Sully', and their latest, and 21st collaboration, '15:17 to Paris'. Indian Horse is his second film in the director's chair, following 2015's 'Momentum'.

Stephen Campanelli and breaking the tormented silence of Canada's residential school survivors.

And; Victoria-based greentrepreneur and horticulturalist extraordinaire, Christina Nikolic will be here at the bottom of the hour with the Left Coast Events Bulletin bringing us up to speed with some of the good things going on in and around our town in the coming week.

Steven (Steve) Mnuchin (right), New York banker who's spent a year being Secretary of the US Treasury, is worse at dissembling his racket than better-known racketeering peers, Alphonse (Al) Capone of the Chicago Outfit (left) or Charles (Lucky) Luciano of the New York Commission (centre).

Mnuchin’s racket is billions of dollars bigger, but in legal principle and method, the fraud and extortion are much the same as the Outfit’s and the Commission’s. Mnuchin’s muscle is bigger too, though that requires warfare, which the Outfit and the Commission were established to do without.

Last week Mnuchin issued a Treasury report to Congress on the impact of US sanctions on Russian sovereign debt, which isn’t a report at all. It’s a leak to a news wire, so sloppily arranged that one of the seven pages is a duplicate of the first, though the leaker didn’t notice he had slapped the same page on to the copier screen twice. The US Treasury didn’t realize, Bloomberg, the newswire, didn’t check. In the 228-year history of US Government reports to the US Congress, such a goof has never happened before.

It took Trump only seven months to surpass the number of civilian deaths in foreign nations that occurred during Obama’s entire eight-year presidency, according to non-profit monitoring group Airwars.

During the 2016 election, Donald Trump – quite successfully – managed to convince a sizable portion of the electorate that he would take a much more anti-interventionist stance, in terms of U.S. military entanglements abroad, than would his contender Hillary Clinton.

Yet, throughout his first year as president, such differences have been few and far between.

In particular, it has been Trump’s dangerous expansion of the drone war that has authoritatively destroyed any illusion that Trump would genuinely put “America first” — and put an end to dangerous military operations abroad that only serve to exacerbate the horrendously bungled War on Terror.

For instance, after gutting the already lax regulations on drone strikes and giving the CIA free rein to kill whomever they choose, it took Trump only seven months to surpass the number of civilian deaths that occurred during Obama’s entire eight-year presidency, according to non-profit monitoring group Airwars.

Americans can congratulate themselves, and the rest of the planet can celebrate, Donald Trump's first year in the White House has finished without Global immolation. Even so, there's no denying it's been a bumpy ride.

From circumventing the traditional isolation of the Oval Office and upending political sacred cows, to undermining strategic alliances and trade relationships like NAFTA, Trump has reveled in his World stage role as Washington's wild card. But, the madness to his method carries real risks; none more immediately dire than the worst case scenarios attendant escalating provocations against nuclear-armed North Korea.

None know this better than those on the other side of the 38th parallel; but will America allow Koreans make their own deal?

Dave Lindorff is an award-winning journalist, author, broadcaster, and founder of the award-winning web news site, This Can’t Be Happening.net. His book titles include: ‘This Can’t Be Happening! Resisting the Disintegration of American Democracy,’ ‘Marketplace Medicine: The Rise of the For Profit Hospital Chains,’ ‘Killing Time: An Investigation into the Death Row Case of Mumia Abu-Jamal,’ And, you can also tune in Dave’s This Can’t Be Happening radio program Wednesdays at the Progressive Radio Network.

Dave Lindorff in the first half.

And; the Victoria Film Festival begins February 2nd, and a film sure to get noticed this year is British-Canadian, multi-award-winning director, Charles Officer's 'Unarmed Verses'. Officer's past credits include the documentaries: 'Mighty Jerome' and 'The Skin We’re In', and the ten-time Genie nominated feature film, 'Nurse.Fighter.Boy' among others.

Unarmed Verses chronicles the imposed relocation of residents of Villaways, a low-income Toronto neighbourhood, through the eyes of aspiring poet, Francine Valentine. It's already received a string of awards, including: Best Canadian Feature Documentary at Hot Docs, The People's Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival, and the Vancouver International Film Festival's choice as Best Canadian Documentary of 2017. Unarmed Verses screens on the first day of the festival, Friday night at 6:30pm at the Capitol 6, and in a matinee on the VFF's final day, Sunday February 11th at the Vic Theatre.

Charles Officer and poetry and motion with Unarmed Verses in the second segment.

And; Shawna Green is one of two women calling the sidewalk in front of premier John Horgan's office home. She and Tsastilqualus Ambers are determined to have fish farms removed from their territory. Green addressed attendees at last week's Site C Action & Accountability Summit in Victoria.

Shawna Green getting real with direct action in the final segment.

And; Victoria-based greentrepreneur and horticulturalist extraordinaire, Christina Nikolic will be here with the Left Coast Events Bulletin at the bottom of the hour.

Moscow - As midnight tolled in Washington, DC, and January 29 slid into January 30, the deadline for the US Government to produce a report to the Congress listing Russian oligarchs close to President Vladimir Putin slipped by in the darkness. No dog barked.*

Required by the Countering America’s Adversaries Through Sanctions Act (CAATSA), enacted with President Donald Trump’s signature last August, the oligarch report was not produced on time. Nor were three other reports – one on sanctions for Russian sovereign debt issues, one on sanctions for business with the Russian defense sector, and one on the extent to which Russian state banks and state asset holdings have re-nationalized key sectors of the Russian economy, such as banking, insurance, real estate, and ports.

There was no press release from the White House, the US Treasury, or the State Department.

K’JIPUKTUK (HALIFAX) - An alliance of twenty Atlantic Canadian and Quebec environmental, Indigenous, and fishery organizations gathered today to express alarm that offshore petroleum boards would be given more power over oceans off Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and in the Gulf of St. Lawrence under the Liberal government’s plan to modify the Canadian Environmental Assessment Act.

The Alliance regards the Nova Scotia and Newfoundland offshore regulatory boards as ‘captured’ unelected bodies, unrepresentative of the public interest, with a mandate to facilitate and promote drilling.

“It’s a clear conflict of interest,” says John Davis, Director of the Clean Ocean Action Committee, a coalition of fish plant operators and fishermen representing over 9,000 jobs in South-Western Nova Scotia.

“To assume that the offshore boards created to promote offshore oil and gas development can somehow fairly assess environmental impacts is the height of folly. It will put renewable resources that have supported my communities for three centuries and our Mi’Kmaq communities for thousands of years at a massive new level of unnecessary risk.”